A Sorta Fairytale
by Nightheart
Summary: Kyoko's world is supposed to be filled with princes and glass slippers, instead she gets a frog in prince's clothing and glass shards. Despite that, she's determined to do what's right for the sake of family.
1. Chapter 1

"I can't believe it!" Okami-san of the Darumaya exclaimed in disbelief. Her husband, the taisho, grunted in acknowledgment/affirmation.

"Taisho Shinobu Okita of the Seisho Inn in Kyoto is in serious condition?!" she exclaimed gripping the news paper.

There was the sudden sound of the tinkling of glass. Okami's and Taisho's heads both jerked over to their left. The floor was covered in liquid and broken bits of glass. Kyoko, who was always so efficient and graceful at serving that it was like she had been born with a tray in her hands, who had never once dropped a single cup of plate in the entire time that they had known her, had just dropped an entire trayful of them at her feet. The bottom hem of her serving yukata was soaked from the splash. But that was not the thing that had arrested their attention... Kyoko was as white as a sheet, every speck of color and blood was gone from her normally expressive face, and she stared at them both in wide-eyed shock.

"Wh-what did you just...?" she said, her voice seeming small and quavering in the quiet of the dining room just before opening.

"The Taisho Okita of Seisho, that's a very famous inn in Kyoto, is in serious condition," Okami repeated. "I just can't believe it, he's always been the picture of health. A good thing too, for that worthless son of his had to run away and leave him without an heir to continue the family business."

That last was added in an undertone from Okami to herself. She and Taisho had no children of their own, and they both worried a bit about who they would leave their establishment to when they were gone, and how this proposed person would care for the place.

"Did it say how serious his condition was?" Kyoko asked quaveringly.

"No, it just said that the question of--"

"I gotta go!" Kyoko said, bowing low and spinning on her heels, dashing out the door to the restaurant. Okami blinked in shock. That simply wasn't like Kyoko, she normally had such a strong work ethic that it bordered on being unhealthy. It was almost inconceivable that she would abandon her post without advance notice, but she'd run off before anyone could stop her.

"I wonder," Okami said, curiously as she looked out the door after the sight of Kyoko, still dressed in her yukata, running full tilt somewhere. She had always been a bit of a mystery; she'd shown up one day in answer to a Help Wanted sign that Okami had placed in the window (not many workers these days wanted to work in a traditional establishment, or had what it took to do so) like a kitten in the rain and had completely blown away Okami's and her husbands expectations. She held herself like the daughter of a well established family, and yet she was always humble and sweet. Then her personality had changed. Okami still knew so little about her, despite the fact that they shared a home. Kyoko was always unfailingly polite, but distant. She tended to evade questions about her past, and didn't really open up much. It made Okami a little sad.

Her husband grunted to himself, and the wife took that to mean "she's fine let her be, she'll be back on her own in a little bit."

& & &

Part of her couldn't believe she was doing this, even as she ran, full tilt, for Akatoki Agency, the place where her arch-nemesis Shotaro worked. Normally she would be going to any lengths to _avoid_ having to meet with her beloved-turned-most-bitter-and-hated-enemy but this wasn't a normal circumstance.

On the day when she had found out that the one she had devoted herself selflessly to, the boy whom she had always seen as her perfect prince, was in fact nothing more than an ugly toad-in-princes-clothing that was using and abandoning her, Kyoko had sworn that she would never forgive him for it. A secret box had been unlocked inside of her heart and the demon that emerged had twisted her and made her go mad. She hated him a thousand times more than she had ever loved him, and she swore that she would devote her life to brining him down, to making him humble and contrite before her. Grudge didn't even begin to cover it. Revenge, not even close. Hatred barley scratched the surface of the depths of her feelings... it was a full-blown _vendetta_.

But... there was something in this case that the very core of Kyoko's sad tattered soul would not allow. This was a matter of **_family_**.

For all that Shotaro had renounced his name and connection to his parents who had raised him with such love and care (_to become the spoiled brat he was today_) for all that they might have renounced him... they were still family. Blood was thicker than water. Despite all of the evidence to the contrary she'd had in her own life (being constantly rejected and ignored by her own mother) Kyoko really, truly, completely _believed _this. She owed a debt to Sho's parents that she could never repay; when her own mother had rejected her and abandoned her, they had stepped in. They hadn't had to, there was nothing compelling them to do so; they could have just kept her fed and clothed from the money her mother sent to them, and then had nothing to do with her, but they had treated a lonely and sad little Kyoko like she was their very own child. They'd provided not only a shelter for her, but they'd loved her and guided her, showing them the ins and outs of their way of life like she was their own daughter.

She loved them, as much as her twisted, battered little heart understood love. She loved them, and she _owed _them. She knew in her heart that the one thing that would make them happy if (heaven forfend) Sho's father should die, would be to see their precious darling boy again and make peace with him. No man should have to die with such issues unresolved. Kyoko could do at least that much for them. She could see to it that there was peace in the heart of a man who had opened his home to her... even though it meant putting her own feelings of hatred and loathing aside to be in the presence of someone she despised above all living things that crawled between heaven and earth. She _would _do this. Not for her sake, certainly not for _his _sake, but for the sake of the ones who had given her so much when they didn't have to. She would fetch Sho and bring him home to Kyoto, even if she had to knock him out and drag him to the train.

Her mad pace had brought her more quickly than she had expected to the front entrance of the Akatoki building. There was a large gathering out in front, all of them entirely female, all of them shouting and squealing in excitement. Kyoko wondered breifly how she was going to get through all of them to search the building for the lazy, good for nothing object of her quest when she saw through a gap in the crowd that the center of all that female attention, was in fact the object of her search.

"There!" she muttered to herself. Just her luck. It seemed like there was some king of invisible line of force connecting the two of them, even when he was the _last _person she wanted to see she still managed to run into him. Well, at least in this case, much as she hated it, it was turning out to be useful.

Now to get through the shrieking Mongol horde of screaming fangirls. Kyoko knew there was no time to be delicate, she was on a mission! She started throwing elbows left and right. Those ladies pushed back, unwilling to let an interloper get any closer to their precious Sho. Finally, Kyoko had enough and set her Grudge!Demons on them. Her eyes met his, and the strange light of determination in them must have surprised him for he seemed to startle with a gasp.

A path was quickly cleared for her. Sho's manager Shoko was answering questions to a small gathering of magazine reporters about the new video for the new song he'd written. Kyoko ignored the press, ignored the fans, ignored Shoko and marched straight up to Sho reached up to him and took his ear in a firm grip.

"Come with me," she commanded him. She was not taking no for an answer, neither would she be put off. He would either follow her willingly or she would drag him. She pulled him along behind her by the ear, Grudge!Demons forming an escort of unseen cattle-prods in case he should take it in mind to resist.

"Hey!" he snapped as she pulled him along. "What do you think you're-- Hey!"

Kyoko, with a vicious feeling of delight, twisted his ear to shut him up until they were someplace that they could speak in private. She dragged him past the front desk, into the elevator and used her grudge-demons to clear the way for her. The door hissed closed behind them, granting them privacy.

"What's this all about?" he demanded in his next breath as she released him. "That was the press you know? The entire country just saw you in your stupid little waitress uniform, it'll be all over the--"

"Doesn't matter," Kyoko said flatly. "You're coming with me."

"What? Where?" he demanded, apparently a little thrown off by her sudden commanding aura where she had always before been meek, pliant and eager to please.

"Home," she replied.

"No-way!" he said with a scornful tone. "No-way in hell am I going back to that back end of no-where town. I don't care how you beg me."

"I'm not going to beg you," she replied firmly. "Shotaro..." she trailed off, her voice and manner softening a little. This wasn't about the two of them and their personal squabble. This was the former Kyoko, who had once cared for a kind boy erased by the selfish man who stood before her, trying to reach that good (sort of) person he had once been.

"What?!" he snapped, clearly still very irritated with her. His attitude, sulky and proud, was out in full force in his stance and demeanor. "And don't call me Shotaro."

"Shotaro! Shotaro! Shortaro!" she snapped in reply, rubbing his face in it. "Listen to me. This isn't about _us_."

She moderated her voice from the angry, irritated tone that it had been a minute before and tried again for one of calm and patience.

"Shotaro... I just got the news this morning," she said.

Sho snorted indifferently.

"What news? The one that said you'll never catch up to me? _I_ could have told you that," he grumbled.

"It's about your father," she pressed on. Sho started, and then tried to hide the expression of concern that briefly blinked across his face. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, trying for a casual air.

"What about him?" he grumbled, trying to act nonchalant, as if the answer didn't mean anything to him. Kyoko knew better. There had been a time in the boy Shotaro's life, back before he'd ever rebelled, when the good opinion of his father had meant the world to him.

"I read in the news paper that..." she hesitated, not really wanting to say it, because saying it out loud would make it true. "

Shotaro, your father is in critical condition."

He tried to hide it. He tried really hard to act as if the words she spoke didn't matter to him. His face tried hard to remain in its usual uncaring bad-boy sulk that he pulled off, all proud and world-weary and just a little _above it all_, but for the briefest instant his mask slipped and Kyoko saw genuine fear and concern there. He covered it up immediately by snorting in an uncaring manner and saying

"Yeah? So? What's that old man got to do with me?"

"He's your father," Kyoko replied, her voice soft and steady in the silence of their private little cubicle.

"So what?" Sho snapped. "That doesn't mean anything."

"It does and you know it does," she said firmly with just a touch of impatience. Who did he think he was dealing with? He might be able to fool anyone else, but not her, never her. She knew him better than anyone else, even a lover, could ever hope to.

"I'm going home to Kyoto, and you're coming with me."

"In what alternate universe do you think you have the right to boss me around?" he demanded incredulously. "You can go home if you want to, but I'm not going anywhere but to my next meeting."

"Oh yes," she said with finality. "You are."

"Oh no," he replied in exactly the same tone as she. "I'm not."

He stepped up closer to her so that he was towering over her, his arms crossed again over his chest and his demeanor saying 'I'm bigger and stronger than you and there's no way that you're going to make me do anything I don't want to do.'

"Shotaro, it's your family," she tried again. Trying to soften her annoyance and keep the Grudge!Demons in check.

"I don't have any family anymore. I'm-"

Whatever he might have said to her was cut of by the open-handed slap she delivered to him. Her eyes blazed up at him in anger.

_How dare he?_

"You are just _so_--!" she said, her temper snapping. She took in a deep breath and really let him have it.

"You're so spoiled and self-centered and egotistical that it defies belief! No-one in your little world matters to you except for yourself, its like all the rest of humanity are just spear-carriers in your own little grand opera of life! You don't _deserve _to have things as good as you've had them, people like you should have suffering put into their lives so they learn to appreciate what's really important... and believe me, _family _is really important."

"Ky-" he started, staring at her like he'd never seen her before. Part of her couldn't blame him, the former Kyoko who was always pliant and eagre to plese the god of her existence would _never _have flown off like this, and certainly not to pick apart all of his flaws.

"Do you think that all of these sycophants, that all of these hangers-on, actually really love you?" she demanded next, beginning to pace as she railed at him. "If they knew you like _I_ do, they wouldn't even _like _you!"

Sho stiffened and scowled, but Kyoko continued, heedless.

"All the adoring fans worshiping your poster in their rooms at night, all the talk-show hosts and interviewers clamoring for your story, fawning all over you, all the people in the biz shaking your hand and dropping their names... do you think any of them actually care about you at all? They don't! Okay?! They don't give a flying fart about you! They don't care about you _now_, they won't care about you _tomorrow_, and as soon as your star falls, they'll be the first to _turn _on you!"

"Shut up!" he snapped.

"_You _shut up!" she snapped back. "You know it's true, you saw it when those Beagles tried to steal your thunder. People are fickle, and none of these people that praise you to the skies now are actually your friend."

"Then what the hell are you?" he demanded, cutting off what she was going to say next. "Why the hell are you here? What's it to you?"

She paused and looked at him seriously.

"I owe your parents a debt," she said softly. "I may hate you with every fiber of my being, so much that being around you makes me want to be physically ill, but that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that they're the closest thing to a real family I've got and they love you. Lord only knows why. Your father would want to see his only son once again before he dies."

Sho tried hard to act like the words didn't strike him like a physical blow, but his breath sucked in and his the color of his face drained away.

"This isn't about you and me," she added quietly. "This is about family. You can be as much of a jerk as you want, but I won't let you turn away from that."

"yeah whatever," he muttered. She sensed his capitulation however and it was confirmed a moment later when he said

"I suppose you've come all the way over here to mooch train tickets off from me."

"Excuse me? Who's the mooch?" she demanded, her eyebrows raising in defense. "_Who _was it that was so pathetically helpless he had to drag along some poor unsuspecting girl to Tokyo with him just to do simple tasks that a five-year old could manage on his own?"

:_Put that way_: she preened to herself. :_It actually does sound pathetic!_:

"Yeah whatever," he grumbled. The uncomfortable shift in his posture however made a Kyoko, who had mastered the art of reading every nuance and shade of meaning in her beloved Shotaro's voice and body as a child, gloat a little inwardly at her victory.

"But if you're offering," she added, just to make sure she could keep an eye on him and make damned certain he actually got on the train.

"Fine, fine," he said. "I'll make arrangements. Just be at the station by eight in the morning tomorrow."

Without another word, Kyoko turned on her heel and pushed the button to open the elevator doors. There was a small crowd waiting outside, either they needed to use the elevator really badly, or everyone was interested in what sort of argument the two of them might be having. She marched out of the elevator, looking neither left nor right, her head held high in victory.

& & &

End Chapter One.

**So here it is, my first Skip Beat! fic. I'm excited to be posting this and I hope to hear how everyone likes it so far. Ren Tsuruga's in the next chapter, along with the eccentric Lory Takarada (everyone's crazy about a sharp dressed man right?)**

**_Ren Tsuruga was perhaps the most wanted man in all of Japan, and not as a fugitive. An actor of acknowledged talent, so tall and handsome that he could model for armani easily. He was a darling of the media for his surpassingly gentlemanly demeanor, he'd never had a breath of scandal attached to his name, he'd never let all of the fame and public adoration go to his head, he was well known for being a concsiencous man with a superb work ethic. Always polite, with a kind, gentlemanly demeanor. In short, the perfect man._**

**_Unfortunately for him, no-one was perfect. No matter how well crafted the mask, the substance behind it was actually rather a bit different from the face people saw. He had flaws, he made mistakes, he was human. He got angry, he got jealous, he got insecure..._**

**_He got really annoyed when he saw the tabloids in the supermarket when he stopped by to grab a dime-store rice bento on his way to his next job and saw a picture of Kyoko with that idiot Shotaro plastered in full color across the front page._**

Psst... reveiws are love!


	2. Chapter 2

_**I want to preface this by saying I was pleasantly surprised and very happy with the overwhealming response to the first chapter of this fic; I honestly hadn't expected that many people to read and respond to this thing. I want to send my shout outs to Aphrodith, Aviana656, Steph300, Kay, Aly, Monia, Jade Eye (whom I know has read some of my work in the trigun forum so double shout outs) 13585bic, Railway Station, Lavendar Skies, ShinYi-CHibi-Chan and Book-chan. Thany you all of you for your wonderful words of encouragement, please enjoy this chapter.**_

Ren Tsuruga was perhaps the most wanted man in all of Japan, and not as a fugitive. An actor of acknowledged talent, so tall and handsome that he could model for armani easily. He was a darling of the media for his surpassingly gentlemanly demeanor, he'd never had a breath of scandal attached to his name, he'd never let all of the fame and public adoration go to his head, he was well known for being a concsiencous man with a superb work ethic. Always polite, with a kind, gentlemanly demeanor. In short, the perfect man.

Unfortunately for him, no-one was perfect. No matter how well crafted the mask, the substance behind it was actually rather a bit different from the face people saw. He had flaws, he made mistakes, he was human. He got angry, he got jealous, he got insecure...

He got really annoyed when he saw the tabloids in the supermarket when he stopped by to grab a dime-store rice bento on his way to his next job and saw a picture of Kyoko with that idiot Shotaro plastered in full color across the front page.

"**FAMOUS SINGER SQUABBLES WITH MYSTERIOUS FIANCEE?**" the headline read. Ren frowned darkly at it, and noted that Kyoko had been dressed in a Yukata in the photo. To anyone who didn't know that this was the clothing she wore to work at teh Darumaya, they'd automatically assume that this was some potential bride sent to him by a matchmaker from his family.

His first impulse was to take out his cell phone, call her, an immediately demand to know what was going on. He checked it. Ren Tsuruga would not act like the jealous boyfriend of a high school girl. Ren Tsuruga would calm down and think things through rationally. He knew damned well that Kyoko hated the little walking peice of pond scum, or at least she had last thing he knew and feelings as intense as that didn't change overnight...

:_But_: the little voice that occassionally bugged him and made him insecure when it came to her. :_Love and hate are often said to be two side of the same coin. it's not entirely unreasonable to think that something might have happened to return her feelings to what they formerly had been.:_

Ren politley told the little voice inside his head to shut up as he snatched up the newspaper to examine the picture closely. He decided, after a moment of intense examination, that his fears were groundless. True they were looking into each others eyes, but the expressions on their faces, Kyoko's in particular, were not that of a devoted couple. There was certainly none of that pure radiating light that he knew she was capable of.

So, no threat then. But that still didn't answer the question of what she was doing on the front page of a tabloid linked with that guy. He scanned the article and found a marked derth of information, the paper gave the events around the picture and speculated a little as to what they might have done privately inside the elevator, but other than that there was no real meat to the story. he put the paper back and finished his purchase, then climbed back in the car with his manager.

Yashiro was a good manager, he really was. He kept all of Ren's appointments in order, scheduled interveiws, events and new drama's, and also saw to things like making certain that Rens suits were dry-cleaned in time for this or that interveiw. Still, the things that made him such an excellent manager like observation and attention to detail, also made him a bit of a busybody and made it buggerall difficult to hide anything from him. he spotted it the moment Ren climbed into the car. Ren had thought that he'd had his face on, but apparently Yashiro could just smell it or something. Either that, or he had spent so much time around his charge that he could actually _read his mind._

"Did something happen?" he asked, eyes narrowed at Ren.

"No, not at all," Ren replied, trying for The Smile.

No dice.

"It's Kyoko isn't it?"

"Why is it that every time you _think_," he stressed the word think. "Something has happened to me, that you immediately jump to the conclusion that she's responsible or at least somehow involved?"

There, that should do it. Due to his practice in dodging pointed questions from interveiwers ren had learned how to gracefully turn aside a question by seemeing to give and answer that wasn't really an answer.

"I'm right, aren't I?" he demanded next.

"No, not at all," Ren lied, straightfaced.

Yashiro caught it.

"I should ruin your cell phone for that," he said, pouting.

Ren decided he could get by with no comment. At last, over and done with. Or so he thought.

"Love Me Number 2 says that Kyoko has a little doll of you that Maria wants, and she won't give it up," he said, enticingly.

Ren gave Yashiro a strange look out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be pleased by that, the doll thing was a little... odd.

"The doll even has a little mask on it with the smiling face of Ren Tsuruga," Yashiro persisted.

Worse and worse! That meant that she _realized_ that the facade he presented to the world was, in fact, a mask. Ren often wondered how he was supposed to be able to go on fooling the girl, he didn't know whether to count himself lucky or unlucky that she was sharp about somethings and completely oblivious about others.

They pulled up in front of the LME building and entered the main lobby to see the sight of Kyoko bowing low (with her perfect posture and humble demeanor in full force) to the President and his entourage... who were all dressed like the court of Henry the Eighth that day. Ren watched from the corner of his eye and noted that the president seemed to be reassuring her about something, he found out what it was a moment later when he entered earshot.

"...Family emergency, take all the time you need," he assured her.

"Thank-you sir!" she exclaimed coming up from her bow. "I'll go clean up my locker, did you need me to do anything before I go?"

"No that's fine," he assured her. "You should spend some time with your family, after all..." The president struck a valient pose. "Love begins in the home!"

Kyoko blinked, her expression trying for neutral but missing and hitting non-plussed.

"Thanks again!" she bowed once more and pivoted on her heel to rush off.

She nearly collided with him, her mind clearly elsewhere.

"Sempai!" she exclaimed with a start after she was shaken back into the present and recognized who she'd nearly run into.

He often really wished that she wouldn't call him that, but on the other hand he figured that it was a good thing she did; otherwise he might forget his real place in her life and start hoping for more. As long as he was a "safe man" to be around, then there was no chance tht she'd cut him out of her life.

"Kyoko-chan," he greeted.

"Good morning!" she bowed to him, greeting him as a proper kohai would greet her sempai.

"Good morning," he acknoledged with a friendly smile. "You seem to be in a hurry, is everything alright?" He was _fully_ fishing for information.

"Er..." she hesitated. "I have, there is... a family emergency. I'm leaving town tomorrow morning."

"Oh really?" he questioned, supressing the urge to frown a little at that. No more chance meetings for a while. it was strange and a little sad how so much of an important part of his life had come to revolve around these little incidental meetings in the halls of his public workplace. He tried not to conciously look for her, but he had to admit that he did it without thinking.

"For how long?" he asked next.

"Indefinately," she said, looking apologetic.

He wondered if he should bring up the tabloid headline with Sho, she wasn't acting like she knew about it and there was none of that aura of depression and rage about her that appeared whenever she thought of him... so the family emergency clearly was not to bury what was left of his body then. Still, instinct told him that tthe guy had something to do with it. Careful, delicate questioning was the order of the day then.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked next. It wasn't too out of line for a sempai to try to help his kohai out, especially when there was an emergency.

"Thank-you for the offer," she said, bowing politiely in gratitude for his thought. "But I sort of already have arrangements."

She scowled, and Ren recognized that look on her face. It was the look she got whenever that idiot was in any way involved. That meant that the arrangements for her travel involved him, she'd either had to ask him for the money to travel or... or he was going to be traveling with her. That guy going anywhere with Kyoko alone was a big, bold **NOT GOOD** in his book. For one thing, he was Ren's rival, and for another thing, he was a known womanizer. He'd heard about the kid's reputation, the thought of him having any sort of unsupervised access to the pure and innocent Kyoko made him wary for her sake. She could be so oblivious about things.

"Are you certain?" he pressed. He couldn't go with her himself because he already had prior commitments to other job-related things, he couldn't offer to send Yashiro with her as an escort; one, because that would be rude, and two, because Ren himself depended on him to know what was what and keep track of the details he couldn't see to.

"Yes," she said with a reassuring smile. "I'll be fine on my own."

He frowned a little, unable to completely hide his worry. That last statement was debateable. She could be sharp, but the nature she had for taking care of others could make her a target.

"Just... be careful," he warned. "Keep an eye on your surroundings, and don't get lost. Don't talk to strangers."

Kyoko blinked at him for a second and then smiled softly. It was one of those rare, heartfelt smiles.

"I appreciate sempai's concern! I will return safely." She bowed again.

Ren watched her rush off to do all the last minute things required before leaving town for a length of time and tried not to start worrying already. He was so unusually preoccupied with the younger actress that he utterly missed the long speculative look that the president was giving him, followed by the look exchanged between the president and his manager.

& & &

Kyoko's mind was a tangle of stray thoughts as she rushed about her room at the Darumaya assembling all of the clothes, items and accessories that she thought she might need for her trip on top of her futon prepretory to packing them in her little duffle bag. Okami san watched from the doorway, she'd offered to help but Kyoko had politely declined. She was unaware of the older woman's curiousity about her vague answer "family emergency" until she spoke up.

"You're going to Kyoto, aren't you?" she asked, breakig into Kyoko's frantic thoughts of "did i grab my brush, will I need my alarm clock, should I pack this shirt, what's the weather like this time of year?"

"Hm?" she questioned, pausing to look over at her.

"Kyoto," Okami repeated. "You're going to Kyoto, right?"

"Oh. Yes," she replied. "I... There's sort of... I mean technically, we're not family... but..." she hesitated. Kyoko had never been certain exactly how she was supposed to reffer tot he people who had raised her. They weren't blood relations, they hadn't adopted her, and until she'd come to Tokyo and discovered the truth about Sho she'd always thought that one day it wouldn't matter because she'd marry their son and they'd be her in-laws.

"They're my..." she tried again. She couldn't rightfully call them mother and father, though truth to be told that was how she thought of them. How was she to introduce them in a way that would make apparent how important they were to her without saying something that could inappropriately be construed as a blood or legal connection.

"They raised me," she at last decided on, simply because there was no other way to describe it.

"Oh, I see," Okami said. "Are they your parents?"

"No, not excatly," she answered honestly. She wished for them to be her parents.

Sometimes Kyoko thought it was exhausting to go through life never really having a place in the world. Every place she tried to make hers never quite seemed to work out for her. She had thought as a very young child that she belonged with her mother, but her mother certainly hadn't wanted her. After her mother had sumarrily dumped her on Sho's parents (Sho's mother and her mother were apparently very old, fast friends) she had thought that she would make herself into a fine woman who would marry thier son... well thanks to thier idiot son that certainly hadn't worked out. She had thought, upon being asked to come to Tokyo, that her real place in the world was at her Beloved Sho's side, supporting him in his climb to the top, but that had definately turned out to be a misconception. So... what was her place and where did she belong?

:_To discover more Kyoko Mogami's_: she thought to herself. She'd always had the bad habit of defining herself by how everyone else around her thought about her, she'd never really tried to define herself by how she felt about herself. Boy, was it ever harder than it seemed. On the one hand, a little bit of self-definition gave one confidence and self-esteem... but on the other hand, too much of it turned people into self-absorbed losers like Shotaro had turned out to be.

:_But there has to be a happy medium between being kind and helpful and completely subborning yourself to the needs of others_: she thought. Kyoko had fallen into that trap too many times, so many times in fact that she was damned certain that she never ever wanted to open herself up to it again. It was just too risky, people always took advantage of her.

She looked over at Okami san and corrected herself. Almost always. Taisho and Okami-san had helped her without ever askign or expecting anything extra in return. They'd given her a room of her own in the back of their inn, they didn't ask her to work in thier resteraunt from dawn to dusk even though she was living there, they even helped her oput with words of advice and understanding when she was having a hard time in her life. She was grateful to them too.

"Okami-san?" she asked owrriedly. "Are you certain that you will be okay without me for a few days?"

"Of course," she said reassuringly. "You go take care of what you need to. As my mother once told me, good news can always wait, but bad things are emergencies."

Kyoko, feeling unexpectedly humbled once more by this casual display of concern and understanding from a people that certainly didn't owe her anything, found herself hugging the proprietress of the inn in gratitude. At first she seemed startled but an instant later, Kyoko found herself being hugged in return.

End Chapter 2

_**Reveiws are love... Love Me?**_


	3. Chapter 3

The train station was a dangerous place to be at eight in the morning, especially in Tokyo. Everyone coming and going, all of them in a rush. The place was packed with people milling and rushing to get to thier appropriate train to take them to work or wherever they were going. There were salarymen in thier suits, houswives off to market, young women in thier school sailor uniforms, and a variety of miscelanious others in all manner of clothing off on unspecified jouneys. She didn't know how she was supposed to find him in this mess, and he was the one with the tickets.

_Then again... nevermind,_ she thought with heavy irony once her eye caught on him.

Sho stood out, even in this crowd of diverse people. He was dressed in "patched together" designer leather pants with silver cahins danging in ropes and drapes from the belt and other parts of it. His shirt was black silk that changed to red when the light hit it right, cut into an exotic pattern with long draping sleeves brought in at cuffs that draped over his hands, a triangle point going down over the palm and back of his hand in between his two middle fingers. The collar of the shirt was lined with dyed red feather-down along the neck and was open down most of his front (surely that couldn't be considered decent) and ruffled to either side. The effect was strangely, effeminately masculine. Then there was the jewelry; he wore silver rings of varying degrees of complexity, sometimes more than one, on every finger and a multitude of necklaces that went with the style of clothes he wore. Only Sho...

"It's about time," he grumped when she tapped him on the shoulder and set her bag at her feet, not bothering to announce her presence. He looked her up and down. Kyoko had chosen a practical pair of fitted khaki slacks and a simple fitted button-down shirt in emerald green with a simple beige blazer over the top of it for travel. They were comforable enough to travel in, not overly fussy, and yet were elegant enough to make a favorable impression on arrival. Her shoes were entirely sensible flats.

"You're wearing that?" he said critically.

"I was about to say the same of you," she growled in reply gesturing to his... ensemble with the chains and the feathers and all the massive amounts of silver jewelry.

"I'm Sho Fu-"

She held her hand up to his mouth before he could finish announcing his presence. Didn't this idiot know that fangirls were _everywhere_? Kyoko did not want to find herself stampeded over by a horde of them before she could just get on the train!

He glared at her for taking liberties with his exquisite self, and Kyoko was a little weirded out to note that he was wearing make up. Sure, it was a very subtle kind and you could barely tell it was there... that meant that it was expensive. She felt another rush of fury at him; that idiot, a man, got to wear expensive make up when he didn't really need it and society would expect him _NOT_ to wear it, whereas Kyoko, who was plain and loved the magic of makeup, had to make do with dime-store lip balm! It just ticked her off.

"You know, frown's will give you wrinkles," he needled. She glared at him. She hadn't even been ten minutes in his presence and she already wanted to smack him. She didn't know how she was supposed to last the day.

"Is that the train?" she asked instead. She tried not to feel a flash of deja-vu and (shudder) nostalgia. The last time she had boarded a train, she had been traveling with Sho, but then it had been as his-- Kyoko wasn't exactly sure what to call thier relationship now that she knew the truth; she wasn't his mistress because that would imply that they'd been sleeping together, she hadn't been his girlfriend because that would imply that he actually _cared_ about her...

_His keeper!_ she thought sarcastically to herself.

"Yes," he said, his tone still entirely sullen. He started walking off, Kyoko shouldered her own duffle and was surprised to note that he had left the two suitcases that he'd apparently packed for himself behind.

"You forgot your things," she informed him as she rushed to catch up. He glanced behind him and seemed surprised to see them sitting there in the middle of the station by themselves.

"Why didn't you bring them?" he demanded next.

"I'm not your maid!" she snapped, irritated. "I've got my own things to carry. Besides, you're a man aren't you? Carry your own weight for once."

He muttered something probably uncomplimentary under his breath and went back to grab up his things. Kyoko meanwhile was a little preoccupied with keeping her Grudge!Demons in check. The nerve of him! He should know that just because she was dragging him home to visit his family for an emergency didn't mean that she didn't hate him. The fact that they had to travel together was, as far as Kyoko was concerned, a singular unfortunate circumstance. It didn't mean she'd forgiven him for what he'd done.

X X X

_Why do I have to be stuck on a train with this idiot?_ she wondered to herself, not for the first time since she'd boarded and settled into thier seats. Sho was gazing sullenly out the window and Kyoko was more than a little tempted to tell him that frowning would give him wrinkles. Meanwhile, she had to put up with the sideways glances from the few other passengers that were off to Kyoto that early in the morning. He was after all, a celebrity, and there were a number of people who were remarking that he looked like Sho Fuwa. Kyoko thought he looked like a sulking adolecent.

"Hey," he nudged her with a toe of his boot (which probably cost more than Kyoko's entire wardrobe). "I'm thirsty."

Kyoko looked at him askance.

"So then go and get yourself something to drink," she replied patiently, mentally reigning in her temper at his tone with her.

He looked affronted, Kyoko could read his feelings on his face as easily as if it had been printed there in black magic marker. The look said "I'm a celebrity, I shouldn't have to do such menial tasks!"

_Sheesh!_ she thought to herself. _How in the world did I remain so oblivious for so long about how self-absorbed this guy is?_ A little sprite of mischeif made Kyoko say

"Ren Tsuruga certainly wouldn't have any troubles with going to get his own drink." She shrugged as if to say that Sho was a hopeless case. "I guess that's just the difference in quality between the two of you."

Sho growled and frowned more deeply. Kyoko hid her smug little smirk at having scored a hit. One nice thing about having been the childhood friend, she knew _exactly_ where all of his _weak _spots were!

Maybe this trip won't be so bad after all.

It was a long trip, though. They traveled all through lunch, and then dinner which was served in the dining car. The itenerary said that they wouldn't reach their destination until after sundown. Kyoko didn't try to talk to him or cheer him out of the bad mood he'd fallen into and Sho certainly didn't try to strike up a conversation with her, so she studied all the material she'd brought with her to catch up on all of the things she'd missed for work related reasons lately and all that she was going to be missing because of the family emergency. When that palled, she took out her little curse doll kit and started sewing away on a new doll, a present for Maria. The little girl had so admired the little curse doll of Ren that Kyoko had made that she thought she'd make one for her as a surprise.

Sho seemed to notice her new hobby for he suddenly snatched the little doll she was working on right from her hands.

"What are you doing making little idols of that guy for?" he demanded, glaring at the offending object and then up at her.

"Hey!" she snapped. "I was working on that, give it back!"

"What, are you hoping that your little love-voodoo doll will make him fall in love with you?" Sho teased next. He nodded to himself, appearing pleased for having figured it out. "Yeah, that must be it. That's the only way a plain girl like you with no sex appeal could possibly hope to get his attention."

"It's not a love-voodoo doll!" Kyoko gasped, looking scandalized at the idea. The last thing she wanted was anyone falling in love with her!

"And it's not for me," she said, trying to snatch it back away from him. Sho childishly dangled it just out of her reach. She jumped up to try and grab it back.

"It's for--" she tried again and he held it just above her. "My friend--" she tried once more. "Maria!" Sho teased her by dipping his hand down and then bringing it back up again, making little noises at her.

"Ooooh!" she said angrily. "You are such a child Shotaro!"

"Hey!" he snapped. "Watch the name!"

"Sho-ta-" she was silenced by his hand in front of her mouth, and Kyoko took the opportunity while he was distracted by looking around to see if anyone had noticed her little slip up to snatch her little Ren doll back. Seeing as having anything of his greatest rival hanging about seemed to be like waving a red flag in front of a bull, Kyoko stowed away her sewing kit and tried to find something else to distract herself with. She couldn't look outside at the scenery, because the twilight had dimmed to full night a little while ago.

"Hey," he said a little while later. His voice was unusually quiet. She didn't hear that tone out of him very often, it was his rare genuine voice; the voice he used when he wasn't being bossy or demanding or teasing her or bragging about himself. It was the voice that Sho used when he was speaking genuinely to someone who was his equal when he wanted to be serious. Kyoko unwillingly paid attention, a lifetime of Pavlovian dog-like conditioning to the sound of his voice wasn't so easily overcome, not even when that person was the one she hated the most in all of existence.

"What?" she asked, just as quietly.

"Do you..." he tried off, his face a battle between some vulnerable feeling of discomfort and trying not to show it. "Do you think that mom'll be glad to see me?"

Kyoko wasn't terribly surprised at the question. Sho might not try to look like it **_ever_**, but he was in actuality, a terrible mamma's boy. It was the aspect he disliked the most about his character, it was so uncool. Kyoko couldn't bring herself to tease him about it however, she had more respect for Sho's mother than that.

"I dunno," she said honestly. "Part of me wants to tell you that a mother is always glad to see her child, but... well, I know that's a lie."

Sho didn't comment on that. They both knew about Kyoko's relationship with her own mother, and neither of them really wanted to go there.

"I can say though," Kyoko said a moment later, habitually trying to be upbeat. "That your mother will probably be glad to know you're safe. You know how much she wants to see you do well."

_Why do I have to comfort this guy?_ she wondered, slightly irritated.

"You'd have to be hiding under a rock not to know that Sho Fuwa is doing well," he said, usual proud celebrity attitude out in full force suddenly. It appeared that what Kyoko had said to him had had the effect of cheering him up. It was a little depressing for her that even after everything that had happened between them, when push came to shove she was still there for him. This couldn't be healthy.

Kyoko turned her thoughts to something else. She'd gotten a worrisome package from New York the other day... the stalker was apparently still at it. He'd sent her a lovely coffin-shaped box full of black magic implements. It was creepy. Most guys would send flowers, or chocolates or even a card, instead she gets wax curse dolls, cursing pins and books ov evil spells. Kyoko wasn't sure how she felt about that, it wasn't the kind of attention that made her happy. She'd given them all to Maria and asked her not to tell anyone where they'd come from.

The day following that she'd gotten a very lovely set of skull-shaped candle holders. Equally creepy. She'd just thrown those in the trash, she hadn't wanted Maria to have nightmares. Kanae had caught her at it, and then proceeded to wring the entire Vie Ghoul debacle out of her. Well, it was more like, Kyoko had been so pleased that Moko had shown an interest she willingly shared all the details.

_And it's all this idiot's fault,_ she thought resentfully. That Beagle jerk would never have met or developed any interest in Kyoko if it hadn't been for her involvement with Sho. He was the root of all the misery in her life, well, all of it except for the continual thorn that was her mother.

But then she thought of all of the amazing things that had happened to her after he'd left her...

Kyoko had realized that she wasn't a complete person, and then slowly started finding peices of herself. Even if a lot of it was tainted by gruge and thoughts of revenge, Kyoko was slowly learning to be honest with herself and her emotions. She now had a best friend, no matter how reluctant Kanae was at first to find herself named so. Kyoko had stood up for herself and found a dream of her own to pursue. She'd tried out for showbiz, and was coming to be acknowledged, bit by bit, for talent on her own merits. She had a sempai who was concerned and worried for her, and had managed to gain his trust little by little.

None of those events would ever have happened if she'd just continued to support Sho and waited around for him to show up on a white horse with a glass slipper.

_Come to think about it_ she thought to herself with a dawning sense of wonder. _I have a lot of good things going for me._

Everything from her life before had been so dependent on others for her own happiness, where as her life now was full of feelings of acheivment based on her own accomplisments. Oh, every now and then a little bit of the old Kyoko, the noble self-sacrificing (naive!) girl she had been before she'd found out the true nature of her "prince" appeared. Kyoko didn't ever think that she'd fully get rid of that innate need to serve and help others, though because of everything that had happened to her, the continual love-deprivation from her mother coupled with the idolization that was twisted into bitter hatred that had happened with Sho had made her extremely wary about loosing herself in any sort of emotion. There were times by herself that she still wasn't entirely certain about the President's plan to "rehabilitate" her and release her out into the wild. Her heart and emotions were so twisted around because of all that had happened that she wasn't sure that she ever wanted anyone to love her ever again... but at the same time, those emotions were necessary to be a human being.

_I know one thing is for certain,_ she thought to herself. _I certainly won't ever let myself love this guy ever again._


	4. Chapter 4

& & &

Ren paced the carpet that covered the floor of his fourth story live-in apartment in the city glancing at his cell phone lying innocuously on the table.

He wanted to call her.

The cell phone seemed to stare mockingly back at him saying "_you have no reason to call her, and wouldn't know what to say even if you could think of a weak pretext_." But he knew that she was off somewhere with _that idiot_, for whatever reason. For someone who hated the guy with all of her being, she sure spent a lot of time around him. It really irked Ren. First the newspaper article the other morning and now this, it seemed like the thread of fate that tied those two together was conspiring to reel them in. They could even be making up by now.

Ren hated it, but he also couldn't see a way to interfere with it either. When they had been on the set in Karuizawa together he'd at least been able to walk in on their little tete a tete and break it up.

_Arrogant punk, picking a fight with me_, Ren thought in irritation. That little snot was just enjoying rubbing it in that he would always have a bigger place in Kyoko's heart than Ren. And there was proof of it, the instant that something went wrong at "home" Kyoko went immediately to fetch the guy she hates. She was even traveling with him of her own free will! Even if she was doing so out of a sense of familial duty, she was still at Sho Fuwa's side rather than here in Tokyo with Ren where he could keep an eye on her. Sho Fuwa was a known womanizer, rumor had it that he went through fan girls like popcorn; it wouldn't take much for him to turn his meager charms on Kyoko and fool her into doing what he wanted.

Then Ren came to his senses and realized that his fears were groundless. Kyoko already knew what he was really like, and her eyes were no longer blind to Sho's faults by seeing him through rose-tinted glasses. She'd be far more likely to scold him disdainfully for acting like an idiot than she would be to fall for any of his tricks. Ren himself had seen what had happened when anyone showed the least sign of romantic interest in her or attempted to seduce her in any way: she froze right up and her brain went off line while she tried to readjust her world-view. If Sho tried anything with Kyoko, she'd erase him from her existence.

_Put like that, I almost wish he would try something_, Ren thought idly. But no, Ren didn't want Sho laying a finger on her, not the least of which was because he was a spoiled self-centered little snot that had no appreciation for the finer things in life. A good woman was hard to find, after all; and sweet, loyal, hard-working, kind and noble Kyoko was a real gem. It was a pity that idiot had gotten to her first. There was a pro and a con to that however; it was a shame that Kyoko had learned further suffering and it had made her wary of men (once bitten was twice shy after all) but if Sho _hadn_'_t _been the selfish jerk that he was, Ren wouldn't now have even the slightest chance with her.

_Which only begs the question of do I have a real chance with her_? She was Love Me Number One, first ranking member of the Love Me section (which consisted of two people), which by definition meant that she didn't go about wearing her heart on her sleeve. No, Kyoko's walls were high and thick. Was Ren really the one who might make a tunnel through them? Did he have the _right _to do so?

_I have more of a right than that boy_, Ren thought. _At least I have good intentions._

And the road to hell was paved with them. Her heart was so fragile right now that if he awoke her emotions but somehow managed to bungle it up, he'd probably destroy any ability she might have to love another person completely.

Perhaps it would be best to let it lie. Kyoko had her own inner demons to fight, and Ren was the last person to tell her how to do so... after all, he had his _own _darkness inside. What if that somehow hurt her?

Come to think of it, family-duty won out over her raging feelings of hatred and grudge; that's already a step in the right direction. It could be that this situation will be resolved through her own efforts. Kyoko was amazingly strong, perhaps she could thread the labyrinth in her own heart without his intercession.

But he really _wanted _to interfere.

_In that case, maybe it's best that I don't_, he told himself sternly.

Kyko had had more than enough of people imposing thier selfish wishes on her, _he _certainly wouldn't do so. Ren vowed that he wouldn't put any pressure on her to love him or even like him, he'd remain polite and neutral. Oh, if she sought him out he'd _certainly _encourage her, that would be right and healthy, reciprocation was always good; but he wasn't going to pressure her or make her feel like she had to be his. The reflex reaction of always living to please others was too well ingrained in her, and Ren didn't want her responses to him to come from reflex and training.

Which was exactly why he couldn't call her then, at least not right away and not without a reason. She'd pick up on it as being a mere pretext if he called her without a good reason. Besides, that idiot was with her, and having Ren's "presence" about would only be like waving a red flag in front of a bull.

Ren sighed, but reluctantly concluded that there was nothing he was able to do about the situation that he definitely didn't like right that moment. Perhaps in a few days... In a few days he could make a call as a sempai checking on his kohai to see how she was doing, but calling on the same night she left was too soon.

& & &

It was late and it was dark out. Kyoko was getting roundly tired of listening to Shotaro complain about having to carry his bags on the long walk down the country road across the private property of his parents' Inn. Kyoko violently stuffed down another pang of nostalgia for the memory of the two of them taking this walk home from school on long sunny spring days when the weather was fine enough that they didn't want to bother being driven to class by the family vehicle.

_Heh, it's all your own fault for bring so much crap on a simple trip to the country_ she thought irritatedly. He had three separate bags stuffed full of who knew what that he was lugging along while Kyoko practically skipped, arms swinging free, down the lane to where the inn was.

"Hey! You could help me you know!" he snapped irritately at her.

Kyoko looked back at him and said

"No way. They're _your _things, _you _carry them. It's your own fault you know, we only came on this trip for a week, two at the outside, and you brought enough stuff to send an expedition down the Congo in Africa."

Sho rolled his eyes at that, but couldn't really argue back in the face of her overwhelming logic.

"I have nicer clothes than you," he grumbled. "Just because you dress like a peasant doesn't mean that I should have to."

Kyoko stiffened at that 'dress like a peasant' remark, but decided to take the moral high-road and say nothing. It wasn't _her _fault that she was always so poor, she was just a struggling actress and Love Me Section member, working at the Darumaya to make ends meet! She couldn't afford to have nice things... for her, dime store lip balm was a luxury. Unlike Sho, who had always had it easy. Kyoko had worked two jobs to support him in the style he was accustomed to, had worked from early int he morning until late at night to put him in an expensive apartment on the other side of town. She'd forgone secondary school just so he could get scouted by the best agency...

Kyoko's Grudge!Demons slithered up at this recollection of the things she had to complain about versus the things he had to complain about. Her irritation rose all over again.

_Maybe he'll slip and fall into a puddle_ she thought. _And ruin all of those nice clothes he's wearing_. The outfit probably cost more than the income she'd made keeping him up in that apartment in Tokyo. It _really _ticked her off.

"You could carry one of these," he added, his tone still indicating that it was more of a command that he expected to be obeyed than it was a request that she could say no to. Kyoko got irritated with him all over again.

"I could, but I won't," she replied, hmph!-ing. "What's the matter? Is the precious little celebrity having to lower his exquisite personage to doing real work for once?"

"I do real work!" Sho replied, stung.

"Name once," Kyoko said, smug. "Name one time you've had a job involving any kind of manual labor where you haven't lazed about when no-one was looking and begged off on me to do the work for you."

"I'm a musician," he replied loftily. "Manual labor is not in the job description."

"That's part of it's appeal to you, I'm sure," Kyoko noted dryly. "Aside of the fact you have ravening, salivating fangirls to worship you and stroke your already enormous ego."

"Definitely a fringe benefit," he said smugly. "Besides that, I'm not a kind of person suited to manual labor. Why should I have to do things I'm not suited for?"

"Don't give me that crap about suited and unsuited," Kyoko snapped. "You're just _lazy_! Your mamma should have made you work at the inn to instill some discipline in you. Maybe then you wouldn't be such a self-centered little prat!"

"Did you just call me a prat?" Sho said, sounding offended. "Where do you get off all of a sudden out of no-where calling me a prat?"

"Well, if the shoe fits..." Kyoko said, leaving the 'wear it' bit to be implied by context. They'd stopped right in the middle of the walkway to have their little argument, and were standing there facing off against each other in the moonlight, identical expressions of irritation with one another as they argued.

"The only shoe you have to worry about is the one that says you're a plain girl with no sex appeal!" Sho riposted, going as he always did for the jugular. Kyoko's temper seethed.

"I may be plain, but at least I'm not a prat!" she shot back. "And people actually _like _me as a _person _when they get to know me."

"No they don't," he scoffed. "Everyone who meets you thinks you're _weird_!"

"This coming from a guy who dresses like he expects himself to be coronated as the King of the Dark Realm or whatever at any minute," Kyoko scoffed in return, gesturing to his outfit.

"You're just jealous of my clothes, and the fact that I have way better taste than you."

"Hah! The only better thing you have is a budget," Kyoko riposted. "And if you didn't rely on that stupid image of yours so much those stupid Beagles would never have been able to catch up to you."

"That and this are two different things! Plain girl!"

"Prima donna!"

"Uncute, no sex appeal, Ren-worshipper!"

"Lazy, egotistical peacock!"

"You clearly don't know show-biz at all then, for them it's not how hard you work or how good your stuff is but how well you network and who you can get to notice you," Sho replied with an aura of smug condescension about him, like he was some great guru-teacher lecturing his humble disciple in the ways of the world. "If I'm a peacock it's because my image gets me noticed and that sells records. And a guy who can at any time call down and order a champagne breakfast in bed with all the works is allowed to be self-centered, in fact people expect it."

_He's saying this like he's proud of it_ Kyoko thought, unable to stop giving him a weird look for his attitude.

"They might expect it, but I'll bet you don't have any real friends," kyoko said smugly. "I have _real _friends, and people who _care _about me. So who's the winner in the end, you or me?"

Sho looked brought up short by that for a moment, his mouth worked silently but then he recovered his usual arrogance.

"A celebrity doesn't need 'friends,' he needs connections. That's why you'll never catch up to me."

"Oh gee, I'll never be a strangely dressed dork who drinks alcohol for breakfast and has only shallow meaningless relationships in his life. Feh! What's to catch up to I wonder," Kyoko said scornfully, crossing her arms and pivoting on her heel, signaling that she'd gotten the last word. If she'd stayed to look at his face, she'd have seen a strange look flicker by.

The journey down the long, scenic gravel driveway continued in silence for a while, both of them caught up in their own thoughts. It was some tie before the silence was broken, but it was Sho who spoke first.

"I remember when we were kids, you used to skip down this road in the spring and pick as many wildflowers as you could before you got home," Sho said quietly. "My room always used to smell like wildflowers because you'd arrange them and put them in a vase for me on my dresser."

Kyoko's anger died at the strange note of fondness in his tone. She didn't know what the hell she was supposed to make of it, and tried desperately to ignore the pang of sadness. It was so much easier when she was angry with him, as she so often was. She hated it when he brought up what they had meant to each other, it always brought back the memory of a feeling so intense and so wonderful that it consumed her world and gave her the strength to face anything. Kyoko felt her throat closing up and willed her eyes not to tear up.

**_How dare he_**! a grudge!demon whispered at her.

Yeah, that's right! she told herself. How dare he bring up what they were, how dare he speak to her with any level of fondness! He had no right to feel fond over it, he was the one who had thrown it all away!

Relieved, she allowed her thoughts of grudge to well back up in her and replace the pain that recalling their childhood raised in her. Anger was simple, and easy. She didn't want to feel anything other than that for him. Anger meant that she didn't have to forgive him.

Kyoko quickened her pace in order to outdistance him. She could see the yellow-lit windows of the inn only a little ways off, they were almost to their destination.

"Kyoko... wait," Sho said, his voice halfway between a command and something that might actually be approaching a request.

"What?" she demanded. "It's getting chilly out here."

"I wanted to ask you... just for the duration of the visit, could you just _pretend _to get along with me?"

Kyoko looked at him with an expression of utter shock. She was flabbergasted! Pretend to _get along _with him? When she couldn't even stand the _sight _of him? When it was taking all of her willpower not to reach out and smack him like the offending little cockroach he was?! Impossible!

"You don't have to pretend everything is the way it was, just... try not to make your hatred of me plain," he hurriedly added.

"Why the hell not?!" she demanded, using harsher language than she usually did because Sho just brought out the _devil _in her.

"It's not for my sake," he snapped back. "We don't know what kind of situation we're walking into in there. My father and mother always did favor a match between me and you, and they're probably already upset and on edge, I think they'd be reassured to see that we're getting along fine. So, just for the time being, in order to soothe things with them, could you pretend you don't want to kill me?"

"For their sake, certainly not _yours_," Kyoko said grudgingly after a long pause to really think about it.

"That all I ask," Sho said somehow managing to sound smug and something like humble. Kyoko sighed and shook her head, whether at him or at herself she wasn't sure.

They walked the last little way up the driveway and stood looking at the imposing front door of the Inn. Kyoko could feel Sho's nervousness from where she stood beside him, and couldn't deny that she had a little clench in her own stomach as well. She had left there three years ago, without giving notice, without a proper goodbye to the people who had spent so much of their time and devotion raising and caring for her. It was a guilt she'd never really gotten rid of. What would their reaction be when she suddenly showed up on their doorstep? Would they scold her? Toss her out and denounce her? Never want to see her again?

Kyoko reached forward and pushed on the doorbell.

:Here goes,: she thought with trepidation.

* * *

Geeze! I haven't updated this one in a long time! The days just kept getting away from me... I picked up Skip Beat 15 in the store the other day and thought, I should really post the next chapter of that story... it's been written since the first two or three chapters but I'm a lazy poster. I fully admit it. Remember, reveiws are love... share the love?


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